Coming Up: OPEN CINEMA Presents The Ghosts in Our Machine, April 23; OPEN CINEMA and Bridges for Women Fundraiser, May 14; MediaNet’s Cinema Salon Presents Elysium, April 24; MediaNet’s Youth Video Summer Camps – Registration now open; Farheen Haq on list for Sobey Awards; Zsofin Sheehy to screen documentary at Public Art Symposium; Open Space’s Symposium on Public Art April 25-26; Cinevic’s Short Circuit Film Fest May 2-3

This event is part of OPEN CINEMA’s Connecting the Docs series, and will be filmed in Victoria and Toronto. The Victoria event is being sponsored by Victoria Vegan Festhttp://www.victoriaveganfest.com/

A film by Liz Marshall, featuring photographer Jo-Anne McArthur

Produced by Nina Beveridge and Liz Marshall

About the film:

With the exception of our companion animals and a few wild or stray species within our environments, we experience animals daily as food, clothing, animal tested goods and entertainment, a moral dilemma that is often hidden from view. This cinematic documentary illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world.

6:30 Thursday April 24 at the Main Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library

Free to attend

Interested in discussions about classical and contemporary cinema? MediaNet and the Greater Victoria Public Library are collaborating on the Cinema Salon, a monthly screening series with guest lecturers and public discussion.

On April 24, Lianne McLarty, Film Studies Professor at Uvic, will speak about utopias/dystopias in relation to the film Elysium.

MediaNet will be running two youth filmmaking camps this summer. Registration is through Saanich Parks and Rec and will start on April 9. Space is limited. You can download the Saanich Summer guide on Monday the 7th of April for registration details. http://www.saanich.ca/parkrec/recreation/alg.html

The workshops run from July 7-10 and July 14-18. The classes are from 10am to 4pm

1. Introduction to Video Expression

No experience necessary

A one week introductory video creation program for youth 11 to 14.

July 7 to 10

This week long introductory is a hands on video-making program. Youth will learn to express themselves using documentary, narrative and stop motion techniques and by creating their own video they will come to understand how media works to influence our lives and actions.

2. Creative Media Expression

No experience necessary

A two week program for youth 15 to 18.

July 14 to 18 and 21 to 25

The goals of this two week program are to give youth the ability to effectively tell their stories using a variety of video techniques and to enhance their critical understanding and appreciation of how media influences our lives and beliefs. Visiting artists will demonstrate and work with the youth to provide a variety of viewpoints, styles and techniques in documentary and personal storytelling.

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5. MEMBERS

Congratulations to MediaNet member Farheen Haq!

Congrats and good luck to MN member Farheen Haq for being one of only 25 artists in line for up to $50,000 in the Sobey Art Award. Also congrats to MediaNet collaborator Peter Morin for being on the list. Two Victoria artists who work in multimedia made the long list.

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Zsofin Sheehy to show video at Open Space’s Symposium on Public Art

At 4pm on Saturday, April 26, MediaNet member Zsofin Sheehy and Kay Gallivan of VIPIRG will screen their documentary 100 Layers of Beige at Open Space. The video is about the Trackside Gallery, some of Canada’s largest graffiti murals. Watch the trailer http://zsofinsheehy.com/portfolio/100layers/

For more information on the symposium please see below in “Around Town.”

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MediaNet upgrading to Mavericks

Members Please Note

Over the Easter long weekend ( April 18-21) all medianet computers will be upgraded to Mavericks, the current Mac operating system. Most changes will hardly be noticeable. BUT there are SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO FCP X. If you have a project in FCP X ensure that you back it up and that you check with Kirk before you restart your project!

Victoria, BC — Two evenings of Pacific Northwest Short Film presented by CineVic at the Vic Theatre (808 Douglas St) on May 2nd and 3rd, 2014.

Tickets are now available at CineVic (1119 Fort St) and Lyle’s Place (770 Yates). Tickets are $10 per night or $15 for both. CineVic members may purchase tickets for the weekend for $10. (Package deal only available at CineVic and the door.)

The Festival is currently seeking works from independent filmmakers, any film or video that tells First Nations, Métis, or Inuit stories, or focuses on international Indigenous issues, is eligible. Submissions can be in any genre (documentary, drama, animation, experimental etc.) or any length, and must be finished works. Preference will be given to new works produced within the last two years.

This program targets emerging Canadian talent, supporting them in the production and promotion of their first feature-length film, with an emphasis on the use of digital platforms for marketing, distribution and audience engagement.

Gabrielle is a young woman with Williams syndrome who has a contagious joie de vivre and an exceptional musical gift. Since she met her boyfriend Martin, at the recreation centre where they are choir members, they have been inseparable. However, because they are ‘different,’ their loved ones are fearful of their relationship. As the choir prepare for an important music festival, Gabrielle does everything she can to gain her independence.

Canada’s bid for Best Foreign Film at this year’s Oscars. French Canadian (subtitled) R more

Shot entirely in Churchill, Manitoba The Last Dogs of Winter is the incredible and controversial story of rebel outsider Brian Ladoon’s efforts to preserve and breed Canadian Eskimo dogs in the harsh Northern landscape. The dogs, ala Qimmiq or Inuit Sled Dogs were once indispensible to human life in the Canadian arctic. Today, the breed faces extinction. Stunning footage of polar bears and dogs interacting and a window for us comfy Southerners into that rugged environment and the equally rugged individuals who choose to live there. Pg13

New Zealand filmmaker Costa Botes will take our call for more about the making of this film! more.

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The Canadian First Weekend Club

Great Canadian Film – It’s out there!

Through Q&A’s with filmmakers and actors, contests, premiere parties, advance screenings, film alerts, and much more, First Weekend Club encourages members to attend opening weekend screenings in order to keep Canadian films in theatres longer.

Currently, First Weekend Club has branches in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Victoria, Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal, and continues to expand into other cities across the country.